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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Oct 22.
Published in final edited form as: Mol Cell. 2010 Oct 22;40(2):333–344. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2010.10.002

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Age-related stress and disease. Aging is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction leading to reduced respiratory metabolism and increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Persistent DNA damage may arise from both increased oxidative damage and reduced efficiency of energy-intensive DNA repair, predisposing to apoptosis, senescence and inflammation. Aging is also associated with increased protein misfolding and aggregation in the cytoplasm, nucleus and endoplasmic reticulum. The various sites of age-related cellular damage and the physiological decline that ensues contribute to the pathogenesis of age-related diseases, including metabolic syndrome, inflammatory disorders, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases.